Herbert Alfred Webber was born on 22nd October 1898 in Yatton, Somerset. The younger of two children, his parents were Ernest and Ada. Ernest was a platelayer for the Great Western Railway and, by the time of the 1911 census, the family had moved to Keynsham, near Bristol. With Herbert and his sister still at school, they had taken in two boarders – railway porters Walter Prince and Victor Coombs – to help bring in a little money.
When Herbert left school, he found work at a local chemist, but as soon as he turned 18, he signed up to serve his King an Country. Assigned to the 94th Training Battalion, Private Webber was sent to the Chiseldon Camp in Wiltshire to begin his career.
Tragically, Herbert’s was not to be a long service. Within a month of arriving at camp near Swindon, he fell ill, and was admitted to an Isolation Hospital in the town. While the condition he had contracted is unclear, it was one to which he would succumb. He passed away on 29th March 1917, aged just 18 years old.
Herbert Alfred Webber was brought back to Somerset for burial. With the family having moved to Bath with Ernest’s work, he was laid to rest in the city’s Twerton Cemetery.
Private Herbert Webber (from britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)
George Ham was born on 19th December 1867 in Twerton, Somerset. His parents were George and Emily Ham, and he was the oldest of their nine children. George Sr was a mason, and initially his first born followed suit, but he was pulled towards something bigger and better and, on 19th January 1886, he enlisted in the Royal Marine Light Infantry.
George’s service records note that he was 5ft 6ins (1.68m) tall, with brown hair, grey eyes and a fresh complexion. He was initially sent to the barracks at Walmer in Kent, and it was from here that Private Ham began a 21 year career in the Royal Marines. Over that time, he served on seven separate ships, and, between voyages, he was based in barracks in Plymouth, Devon. Both his character and ability were consistently noted as being very good.
Private Ham’s career took him around the world and, in 1887, he found himself on the gunboat HMS Banterer, on which he served for three years. His tour of duty included a period of time in Galway, Ireland, and it was here that he met Mary Ann Goode. On 5th July 1889, the couple married in city’s St Nicholas’ Church. The church’s records suggest that the couple went on to have four children – Frederick George; Emily, who died just after her first birthday; Albert; and Katherine.
George’s records from this point become a little disjointed. In October 1890, he returned to his Plymouth base, and the following year’s census recorded him as living in the East Stonehouse Barracks, although his marital status was noted as single.
The next census, in 1901, presents a different picture. George and Mary were, by this time, living in family barracks in East Stonehouse, with two children, (Frederick) George and Albert. Katherine, the couple’s youngest child, was born the following year.
In January 1907, after more than two decades’ service, George was stood down from active service in the Royal Marines. He was placed on reserve status, and took up work as a mason once more. At this point, however, the family seemed to have hit more troubled times, underlined by four separate 1911 census documents.
George, who was 44 by this point, was recorded as being an inmate in the Bath Union Workhouse and Infirmary in Lyncombe, Somerset. Mary and Katherine, meanwhile, were in two rooms in a house in Stonehouse, Devon. Frederick, who was now better known as George, had followed his father into military service, and was a Private in the Royal Marine Light Infantry, serving on HMS Colossus. Albert, who was 13 years old, was one of 946 students boarding at the Royal Hospital School for Sons of Seamen in Greenwich, London.
George spent nine years in the reserves, and, in 1914, was called up again for war service, this time as a Lance Corporal. According to a contemporary newspaper:
[He was] engaged on naval patrol work against submarines off the Canadian coast and elsewhere, and was in charge of a gun on an armed merchant ship. Once the boat he was on was torpedoed, and on another occasion he had a long running fight with a submarine in the Irish Channel. The ship, however, reached Portrush (Ireland), and the inhabitants gave Lance-Corporal Ham a testimonial, and he was also rewarded in other ways, the Cardiff owners of the vessel recognising his skill and gallantry.
Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette: Saturday 7th December 1918
Tragedy was to strike in the end, however, and George was to meet a sad end to a distinguished career.
While at Cork [George] fell, either from a boat or the dock, and sustained an injury to the side of his head. It did not appear very serious, and it is understood that he made a trip to Cardiff and back to Londonderry, [where] he became so seriously ill as to necessitate his going to a military hospital in Londonderry. Hemorrhage [sic] of the brain set in, and he died on Monday [2nd December 1918] before his brother, Mr Albert Ham, who had been telegraphed for, could reach him.
Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette: Saturday 7th December 1918
Lance Corporal George Ham was days short of his 51st birthday when he died. His body was brought back to Somerset for burial, and he was laid to rest in Twerton Cemetery. The newspaper report give no indication as to whether Mary or their children were in attendance and, in fact, does not mention his wife and family at all.
George Williams was born in West Bromwich, Staffordshire, in 1895. One of ten children, his parents were George and Sarah. When George Sr died in 1908, his widow was left to raise the family herself. By the time of the 1911 census, all of the children were still living at home, and four of them, including George Jr, who was working as a labourer, were bringing in a wage.
When conflict broke out, George stepped up to play his part. He enlisted in the Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry before the end of 1914 and, as a Private, was assigned to the 8th Battalion.
Little information is available about George’s military life and, indeed, the only other details available for him are that of his passing, based on reports available in a contemporary newspaper.
About half-past eight on Thursday [3rd June 1915] the body of a soldier was found in the river at Bath… The corpse was in a somewhat advanced state of decomposition, its condition suggesting it may have been in the river about three weeks. The man had on his full regimentals, with top coat.
Papers found in the pocket indicate that the deceased is Private George Williams, of the 8th Battalion Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry, now encamped at Sutton Veny, Wilts. This regiment was quartered in Bath during the winter, and left the city some weeks ago.
There are.. no marks of violence on the body.
There was found on the body a pass dated 14th May, giving him three days’ leave. The leave expired at 11:55pm on May 17th. The permit allowed him to proceed to Birmingham. There was also found on the deceased a telegram addressed to 22 Green Street, West Bromwich, which said “Leave extended.”
The supposition is that Williams returned as far as Bath, on his way back to camp, by Midland Railway, and when in the city by some means or other fell into the river.
Curiously enough, the Bath police had been advised of the absence without leave from camp at Sutton Veny of a soldier of the same name. But in this case the man belonged to the 10th Devons. They had received no notification regarding Private Williams of the 8th Cornwalls.
Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette: Saturday 5th June 1915
The telegram mentioned in the report is likely one sent to George’s family, who was living at 22 Queen Street (possibly an error on the newspaper’s part).
George was just 20 years old when he died: the army report gave the date of his death as 2nd June 1915, although it seems likely that he had passed some weeks before.
Sarah and the family were possibly unable to afford to have George’s body taken back to Staffordshire for burial. Instead, he was laid to rest in the Twerton Cemetery in Bath, with Sarah and two of his brothers, Leonard and William, in attendance. Another member of his battalion, “deceased’s chum” [Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette: Saturday 5th June 1915] Private Fred Cotton, was also at the funeral, and sent his own wreath – from “his old pal Fred” [Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette: Saturday 5th June 1915].
A lot of the life of Frederick Stone is destined to remain shrouded in mystery. His grave lies in the St Michael’s Cemetery, Bath, Somerset. The headstone confirms that he was a Private in the (Royal) Army Service Corps when he passed away on 22nd May 1916, at the age of 35.
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission give a little more information – he was the husband of Millie Stone, who lived at 9 Mount Road, Englishcombe. Private Stone was attached to the 623rd Mechanical Transport Company.
The 1911 census records a Fred and Millie Stone living at 22 Paragon, Bath, a twelve room Georgian terraced house near the centre of the city. Fred is listed as a gas maker for an ice factory, while Millie, who was eight years older than her husband, is noted as being a boarding house keeper. They couple were recorded as having been married for two years, and they had a seven month old daughter, Emily.
There is no marriage record for the couple, nor a baptism record for Emily, so it is not possible to glean any further information. There are four Bath-born Fred/Frederick Stones in the 1901 census, so again confirming which relates to the Private lying in the city’s cemetery is a challenge.
Private Frederick Stone’s death is not reported in the contemporary newspapers and so seems not to have been out of the ordinary. He was laid to rest in St Michael’s Cemetery, at peace.
Ernest Algernon Phillips was born at the start of 1879 in the Somerset village of Winscombe. One of nine children, his parents were Arthur and Elizabeth Phillips. Arthur was a gardener, and Ernest followed suit when he finished his schooling.
By the time of the 1911 census, he was boarding with his younger sister Rose and her family – brother-in-law Leonard and nephew Leslie. Just a couple of weeks later, on 11th May 1911, Ernest married Winifred Carey. She was a coachman’s daughter from Winscombe, and the couple set up home in a cottage on the outskirts of the village.
When war broke out, Ernest felt a need to play his part. He enlisted in Bristol on 8th December 1915, but was not formally mobilised until the following June. Initially assigned to the Devonshire Regiment, he was transferred to the Worcestershire Regiment and attached to the 6th Battalion.
Private Phillips’ troop was based on home soil, and he was barracked in the garrison in Harwich, Essex, for the next six months. On 31st January 1917, he was transferred to the Military Police Corps, and given the rank of Acting Lance Corporal. Full details of his service from this point on are lost to time, but it is clear that he remained on home soil until the end of the war.
By November 1918, Ernest had fallen ill. He was admitted to the Queen Alexandra Military Hospital in London on 20th November, suffering from pneumonia. Within a matter of hours, while this seemed to have cleared, his pulse was ‘rapid, irregular and compressible.’ He was medicated, but did not respond to treatment, and passed away the following day. His death was noted as apparently being caused by clots of blood in the heart, but, at the request of his family, no postmortem examination was carried out. He was 39 years of age.
Ernest Algernon Phillips was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the quiet graveyard of St James the Great Church in Winscombe.
Arthur Reuben Thomas was born in Banwell, Somerset, on 27th September 1899. The older of two children, his parents were blacksmith Edwin Thomas and his wife, Mary.
Little information about Arthur’s life is documented. At the time of the 1911 census he was still a schoolboy, and it is likely that he helped his father out in the smithy when he finished his education.
By this point war was raging across Europe, and it is likely that young Arthur was keen not to miss out. Details of any military service are lost to time, but it seems possible that he joined up as soon as his age allowed.
Private Thomas was assigned to the 53rd (Young Soldier) Battalion of the Hampshire Regiment, and sent to Rollestone Camp on Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire, for training.
Sadly, Arthur’s time in the army seems to have been a short one. He was admitted to a camp hospital in nearby Tidworth, suffering simply from ‘disease’, and it was from this that he passed away on 6th January 1918. He was just eighteen years of age.
Arthur Reuben Thomas’ body was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the quiet graveyard of St Andrew’s Church in his home village of Banwell.
Ivan George Day was born in the summer of 1898, the oldest of three children to George and Emma Day. George was a brick and tile maker from Weare in Somerset and it was here that he and Emma raised their young family.
When Ivan finished his schooling, he found work as a postman, but, with war raging across Europe, he seemed keen to play his part. In February 1917, he enlisted in the army and was assigned to the 93rd Training Reserve Battalion. His service records show that he was just 5ft 3ins (1.6m) tall and weighed 121lbs (54.9kg).
Private Day was sent to Chiseldon Camp, to the south of Swindon in Wiltshire and, tragically, this move to cramped army barracks was to prove his undoing. Within four weeks of arriving, Ivan was admitted to the camp’s hospital, having contracted measles and pneumonia. Less than a week later, the conditions had gotten the better of him. He passed away on 3rd April 1917, at just eighteen years of age.
Ivan George Day’s body was brought back to Somerset for burial. He was laid to rest in the peaceful graveyard of St Gregory’s Church in his home village of Weare.
Tragedy was to strike the Day family again when, George died eighteen months later, aged 51 years old. Emma lived until 89 years old, passing away in Weston-super-Mare in the summer of 1955.
Ivan was not the only Somerset soldier to succumb to pneumonia at Chiseldon Camp that spring. Private Charles Oborne, died from the same condition a few days before Ivan was admitted to the hospital. Private Everett Ferriday, of the 94th Training Battalion, passed away in the same hospital on the same day as Ivan, also from pneumonia.
You can read their stories by following the links above.
Charlie Tucker was born early in 1877 in the village of Mark, Somerset. The fifth of six children, his parents were Thomas and Caroline. Charlie’s mother died when he was only a toddler, probably during, or shortly after, the birth of his younger sister, Elizabeth. This left farm labourer Thomas to raise his family alone.
The 1881 census found the Tuckers living in Wedmore, five miles to the east of Mark, where Thomas was supported by his parents, George and Elizabeth. Both died in 1890, but by this point, Thomas had married again, to a widow, Ann Harding. She had a daughter, Mary Ann, who was welcomed into the family, but then Thomas and Ann had their own child, a son called Walter.
The next census, returned in 1891, recorded the family – Thomas, Ann, Charles, Mary Ann and Walter – living in Wedmore. Charles had finished his schooling by this point, and was employed as a general labourer and the family also had a boarder, Ralph Godney, who was just 9 years of age.
The family setup continued, and the 1901 census document found Thomas and Ann living with Charlie and Walter, all of whom were doing farm work. They still seemed to be open to supporting others, however, and had another boarder, a schoolgirl called Elizabeth Grant.
In the spring of 1904, Charlie married Lily Brown. Born in Wedmore, she was the daughter, and only child, of a labourer who was employed as a servant to an Axbridge famer at the time the couple wed. Charlie and Lily set up home in Blackford, near Wedmore, and went on to have four children: Thomas, Walter, William and Kathleen.
When war broke out in 1914, Charlie stepped up to play his part. Full details of his military career are lost to time, but it is clear from what remains that he had enlisted in the Devonshire Regiment by the autumn of 1916. Private Tucker joined the 13th (Works) Battalion, and remained stationed on home soil for the duration of his service.
Little further information about Charlie’s life is evident. Over the next couple of years his health began to fail, and in the spring of 1917 he had been admitted to Bath War Hospital with carcinoma of the stomach. This was to take his life: he passed away on 11th March 1917. He was 40 years of age.
Charlie Tucker’s body was brought back to Blackford for burial. He was laid to rest in the graveyard of Holy Trinity Church.
Lily, now widowed, was left with four young children to raise on her own. Whether for a new life and new opportunities, or to escape the painful memories that Somerset brought, she made the decision to emigrate. In April 1924, she and the children arrived in Canada, and settled in Ontario.
Further information for Lily is not readily available, but her two oldest children, Thomas and Walter, made lives for themselves, and died in 1975 and 1979, respectively.
William John Solomon was born on 26th June 1891 in the Somerset village of Huntspill. One of nine children, his parents were mason and bricklayer Roland Solomon and his wife, Annie.
When he finished his schooling, William found work as a farm labourer, but, sadly, there is little else documented about his life. When war broke out, he enlisted in the Somerset Light Infantry. Details are unclear, but he served with the 8th Battalion on the Western Front and the 1st/5th Battalion in Egypt.
By 1918, William was back on home soil, but had fallen ill. His condition is not confirmed, but he passed away from it on 16th October 1918, at the age of 27 years old.
William John Solomon was laid to rest in the peaceful graveyard of St Peter’s in his home village.
John Burge Parker was born in the spring of 1887, the second of eight children to George and Ann Parker. The family were raised in Huntspill, Somerset, where George was employed as a labourer in the local railway works.
When he finished his schooling, John found work on a farm and this is how he was employed when, on 30th April 1907, he married Alice Jane Grove in the parish church in Pawlett. The sleepiness of the area is underlined by the fact that this was both the only wedding to take part in the church that year, and for more than a year. John and Alice went on to have three children, Audrey, who was born in 1907, Elsie, who came along two years later, and Clifford, born in 1915.
With a growing family to support, John sought out more of a career. Indeed, by the time of the 1911 census, he was employed as a police constable, and the Parkers had moved to Bristol. When war came to Europe, however, John stepped up to play his part.
John enlisted on 17th November 1915, joining the Railway Troops Depot of the Royal Engineers. His service records show the kind of figure he must have cut in the police, and he was noted as being 6ft 1in (1.85m) tall, weighing 176lbs (79.8kg). Initially give the rank of Private, he was promoted to Lance Corporal in May 1916, just four months after being officially mobilised.
In October 1916, Lance Corporal Parker’s troop set sail from Southampton, their final destination being Alexandria in Egypt. He spent more than two years in North Africa, wand was promoted to full Corporal during this time.
John returned to Britain early in 1919. In February, John was visiting his brother in Highbridge, Somerset, and, on the evening of the 6th, he left to visit his father in Huntspill. He set off to Highbridge Station first, with the intention of checking the train times to return to Bristol, but that was the last time he was seen alive.
A painful sensation was created in Highbridge and neighbourhood… when it became known than on the previous evening.. the mutilated body of a soldier was found on the Great Western Railway metals, about a quarter of a mile below the Highbridge Station… The body was subsequently identified as that of John Parker… a corporal in the Royal Engineers, whose home it at Bristol and who leaves a wife and three children.
Central Somerset Gazette: Friday 14th February 1919
Nothing untoward was confirmed in the accident that killed John on the night of the 6th February 1919, and at the inquest the jury reached the conclusion that he had died through a tragic accident. He was 32 years of age.
The newspaper report gave more insight into the character of Corporal Parker: “He was a splendid specimen of manhood, standing over 6ft, and of proportionately fine physique… [He] was of a most genial temperament [and] was held in the highest respect both in the Highbridge district and at Bristol.”
The body of John Burge Parker was laid to rest in the quiet graveyard of St Peter’s Church in his home village of Huntspill.
Death and Service 